 | |  The Australian Government’s 2012-13 Budget has ensured the continuation of hundreds of millions of dollars in vital funding for local roads and infrastructure. ALGA Vice President Felicity-Ann Lewis this week applauded the Australian Government for recognising the needs of councils by extending the Roads to Recovery (R2R) program to provide direct funding for local roads for a further five years beyond 2014, when the program was due to finish. “Last year, ALGA launched a national campaign to secure ongoing federal funding to assist councils to maintain local roads and address an estimated shortfall of $1.2 billion in their investment. I am pleased to say that the Australian Government has listened to local government’s concerns and extended the program until 2019,” Mayor Lewis said. “Local communities across the country will benefit from the Government’s commitment to provide $350 million a year for five years from 2014 to 2019 under the R2R program, ensuring the maintenance of our local roads, which make up more than 80 per cent of our national road system.” The Government has also announced that it will be providing Black Spot funding of $60 million a year for five years from 2014-19 and, in addition, the Government will provide $20 million a year over seven years from 2012-13 for heavy vehicle safety, including more rest stops for truck drivers. Both of these initiatives are vital to help achieve the target of a 30 per cent reduction in fatalities and serious injuries on our roads by 2020. Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) to local governments will also be maintained in real terms, with the Government deciding to bring forward the first two quarterly payments of the 2012-13 FAGs into 2011-12. This funding is very important to assist councils to deliver their services, maintain local roads and upgrade local community services, and early payment will assist councils to manage their cash flow and be appreciated by those councils continuing to recover from natural disasters in recent years. | | | | |  The total funding for local roads covered in this year’s budget and the forward estimates (2012-13 to 2015-16) amounts to around $4.1 billion and includes R2R funding, Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) identified for local roads and the additional local roads funding provided to South Australia. The figure would have been higher if the Government had not brought forward $343.5 million of identified roads FAGs from 2012-13, to be paid to councils before 30 June 2012. A further $3.56 billion will be put towards the full duplication of the Pacific Highway; $140 million will be spent on continuing the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Package; $4 million will be invested in extending the coverage of seatbelts on regional buses; and $15.6 million will be allocated to establishing a new Brisbane-based Heavy Vehicle Regulator. The following table depicts a breakdown of local roads funding across all states and territories for 2012-13: | State | Roads to Recovery $m | Identified local roads grants $m* | Black Spots $m | Total $m | | New South Wales | 99.7 | 99.7 | 19.1 | 218.5 | | Victoria | 71.2 | 70.8 | 13.6 | 155.6 | | Queensland | 71.2 | 64.4 | 12.1 | 147.7 | | Western Australia | 51.2 | 52.5 | 6.5 | 109.9 | | South Australia | 31.5 | 18.9 | 4.7 | 55.1 | | Additional funding for SA local roads | | 16.9 | | | | Tasmania | 11.4 | 18.2 | 1.6 | 31.2 | | Northern Territory | 10.2 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 19.2 | | Australian Capital Territory | 3.4 | 11.0 | 1.0 | 15.4 | | Total: | 349.8 | 360.4 | 59.5 | 769.7 | | | | | |  As highlighted earlier, the 2012-13 Budget maintains the system of payments to support local government, through Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) but half of next year’s FAGs will be paid early, before 30 June 2012. FAGs for 2012-13 are expected to total $2.36 billion but $1.18 billion will be brought forward to 2011-12, meaning that a total of $2.7 billion will be paid in FAGs for 2011-12 with the remaining $1.18 billion allocated in 2012-13. The timing of FAGs payments is a matter for the Australian Government but local government is grateful for the funding, as it allows councils to continue to provide essential services and infrastructure to thousands of local communities across Australia, many of which have been hit hard by the impacts of the global financial crisis and natural disasters. FAGs funding is vital to sustain and strengthen the resilience of these communities. Councils had already received an early payment of one quarter of 2011-12 FAGs payments last financial year, which was welcomed by many councils for proving certainty of cash flow and giving them the opportunity to plan and commence work earlier than might otherwise have been the case. For a breakdown of FAGs payments by jurisdiction, click here. | | |
| |  I am pleased to say that this week’s Budget provided good news for local government and signalled the desire of the Federal Government to continue a strong partnership with councils. Acknowledging the challenging environment facing the Government, given its commitment to return the Budget to surplus in the face of the enormous cost of rebuilding infrastructure following floods across the country, ALGA submitted its budget recommendations to the Government in January. In our submission, we called on the Government to show commitment to long-term funding of vital services. Our submission stressed that while we understood the current economic climate, important services and projects “do not wait for a convenient moment”. One of our key recommendations was for the Government to deliver an increase in Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs). While the Budget did provide local government with ongoing funding under the FAGs scheme, and we appreciate receiving accelerated quarterly payments, this funding has not been increased. The Australian Government has promised a review of the FAGs payment scheme and we take this opportunity to remind the Government of the need for an escalation of the indexation of FAGs funding to reflect the real financial pressures on local government. Our submission also called for the Government to ensure the long-term future of Roads to Recovery (R2R) funding. We applaud the Government for its decision to extend the Budget for a further five years, beyond 2014 when it was due to finish, but our objective remains a permanent program. Under the R2R program, councils are provided direct funding of $350 million a year, from the federal Government for local roads, to help them maintain more than 650,000 kilometres of local roads. The maintenance of the local road system is one of local government’s major commitments and for most councils, road maintenance is the single largest item of expenditure. Last year, ALGA launched a national campaign to secure ongoing federal funding to assist councils to maintain local roads and address an estimated shortfall in investment of $1.2 billion. By increasing the investment in local roads and making the program permanent, councils could rest assured that the quality and safety of local roads was being treated with priority. The decision to extend R2R shows that the Government has listened to our call but the task remains with ALGA to push the case for permanency. ALGA’s budget submission also called for greater clarity and improved equity for natural disaster arrangements and prevention of cost and responsibility shifting onto local government by other levels of government, particularly the states and territories. These issues were not addressed in this week’s Budget but they remain priorities for ALGA and we will continue to advocate for them. Our job is to build on the advances in the Budget and to deliver for councils and communities across the country and I look forward to working with the Government to achieve that goal. Mayor Genia McCaffery
ALGA President | | |
| | A rollout of funding from the Federal Government's $20 million Liveable Cities program has been applauded by the planning industry. The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) says the announcement of funding for seventeen different projects across Australia is a welcome start to a program aimed at creating better communities. PIA President Dyan Currie described the Federal backing of the various planning projects as excellent, and is calling on the Government to make such programs ongoing. "The real value of good planning will be evident if these projects are not just funded but evaluated in the medium and long term as well," Ms Currie said. "If projects are correctly assessed for how well they achieve desired outcomes on a number of levels, both the community and the Government will be able to make clear judgements. "Funding for programs that give us healthy places and spaces, more resilient communities and more efficient and effective movement of people and goods should be an ongoing investment." In a series of announcements from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport in recent days, the Federal Government is backing planning projects around Australia with funding ranging from $30,000 to $500,000. Among the contributions is $400,000 towards a redevelopment blueprint for Melbourne's Southbank, $320,000 towards a transport project in Launceston, $500,000 to the ACT Government for a major planning project for the city’s CBD and $250,000 towards the Darwin CBD Masterplan. | | | | | Nine councils in three states are included on the first list of entities liable to pay the Federal Government’s carbon tax when it comes into force from July 2012. The councils in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales are among 248 organisations listed on the first phase of the Liable Entities Public Information Database (LEPID) published by the Clean Energy Regulator. The councils are Brisbane City Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Western Downs Regional Council and Maranoa Regional Council in Queensland; the City of Armadale, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, and Mindarie Regional Council in Western Australia; and Shellharbour City Council and Wagga Wagga City Council in New South Wales. Under the Clean Energy Act 2011, the Clean Energy Regulator is required to publish a list of entities that are likely to be liable under the carbon pricing mechanism. Entities are included if the regulator has reasonable grounds to believe they are, or are likely to be, liable entities because they meet criteria specified under the Clean Energy Act 2011 within a financial year. The database is being published through a staged schedule as information is made available to the regulator. The first phase of the LEPID includes entities identified through emissions reporting under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 and natural gas suppliers. Clean Energy Regulator Chair, Chloe Munro, said it had written to around 330 entities advising that they were likely to be liable for the 2012-13 financial year. They accounted for over 95 per cent of emissions covered by the carbon pricing mechanism. The LEPID will be updated as the Clean Energy Regulator receives information about changes in entities’ particular circumstances. A list of the 248 entities liable to pay the carbon tax can be found here. | | | | | The fifth National Workforce Development Forum convened recently in Canberra. The Forum explored local government workforce issues, challenges and capacity building strategies; reviewed sector priorities; and discussed nationally networked approaches to local government workforce development and planning. Forum objectives were: - To facilitate information sharing and collaboration on workforce development across all levels of government and within the sector.
- To explore contemporary local government workforce development activity and workforce issues and challenges.
- To discuss workforce development priorities in conjunction with the Draft National Local Government Workforce Strategy; review and discuss issues arising from the draft; and develop a framework for coordinated action.
- To discuss the implications for the sector and its workforce development projects of, the federal government’s National Workforce Development Fund; the new skills reform National Partnership Agreement with the states, and COAG targets. The latter aim to:
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halve the proportion of Australians ages 20-64 without qualifications at Certificate III level and above between 2009 and 2020, and -
double the number of higher qualification completions (diploma and advanced diploma) between 2009 and 2020. All Forum presentations plus an agenda are available here. Resources from the 2011 Forum can also be found at this link. | | | | | Australia is now considered officially drought-free for the first time in more than a decade. The declaration coincides with the end of "exceptional circumstances" subsidies in Bundarra and Eurobodalla in New South Wales, leaving no part of the country officially "in drought". But the announcement by federal Agricultural Minister, Joe Ludwig, is bitter-sweet for farmers, who have questioned the Commonwealth's plan to end the exceptional circumstances interest rate subsidy program. “Now is the time to progress drought reform," Senator Ludwig said in a statement. "We need to take this opportunity to transition from reacting to crises, to a pro-active policy approach that prepares our farmers for the future," he said. “A major step toward that framework will be phasing out the exceptional circumstances interest rate subsidy, which given the end of the final two EC declarations, will conclude on June 30 this year.” The NSW Farmers Association said it was premature for the federal government to make decisions about drought policy when it was being reviewed by farmers' peak bodies and state governments. "Ministers and peak bodies like us are reviewing the drought policy in good faith," Association President Fiona Simson said. "If the government is going to make decisions and announce results outside of that process, it gives us little faith in the value and meaning of the consultative process." | | | | | Queensland's biggest insurer Suncorp will no longer offer new policies in two regional towns until flood mitigation works are carried out. Roma, in southern inland Queensland, and Emerald in the State's central region, have been devastated by major flooding in recent years. The insurer says it has taken $4 million in premiums from the towns' residents in the past two years but has paid out $150 million in claims. Current policy holders will be able to renew but the cost of premiums is set to rise dramatically. Suncorp spokesman Jason McCracken says no new policies will be offered until levees are built. "We're keen to see something happen before we head into this storm season later in the year.” "We certainly don't want our policy holders and the rest of the country - the rest of Queenslanders - to be funding a situation when flood mitigation can be taking place." The Federal Government is urging Suncorp to lift its new policy ban on the Queensland towns. | | | | | The Australian Government has announced changes to remote employment and community development services to help more people get into jobs and participate in their community. From 1 July 2013, the new $1.5 billion Remote Jobs and Communities Program will see jobseekers assisted by a single provider with a permanent presence in their region, ensuring they are getting better support to get the skills needed to get a job. The initiative includes a the Remote Youth Development and Leadership Corps, a program for people aged under 25, which will provide 3000 young people each year with a clear pathway to employment. For more information, click here. | | | | | Residents in the Lismore local government area have been discussing the idea of a volunteer road gang. Lismore City Councillor David Yarnall wants residents to be allowed to help fix and maintain the council's gravel roads. He wants the council to investigate the insurance implications of allowing residents to use their own graders and tractors to do the work. "I remember some ten years ago, when in earlier days perhaps less tighter insurance days where council delivered several loads of gravel to Terania Creek Road and the whole community came together for a particular day, I think it took us six hours, we did the whole road," he said. Not only were they quick, but councillor Yarnall says it was fun. Councillor Yarnall says he's been approached by numerous land owners who say they'll do the job if the council provides the gravel. But Lismore's Mayor, Jenny Dowell says there is a lot to consider in terms of liabilities for the council. "All workers on roads and in any area of council work must be trained … they must have protective clothing they must go through drug and alcohol testing," she said. "It might sound good but the risks are just too great," Councillor Dowell said. | | | | | The Australian Human Rights Commission is holding public consultations around the country as part of developing the National Anti-Racism Strategy. The aim of the Strategy is to promote a clear understanding in the Australian community of what racism is and how it can be addressed. The Australian Government committed to developing a National Anti-Racism Strategy in Australia's multicultural policy, The People of Australia. It is anticipated the Strategy will be launched in July 2012 and implemented between 2012 and 2015. Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr Helen Szoke is leading the development of the Strategy. She is keen to hear how racism affects communities around Australia, and what needs to be done. For more information about the National Anti-Racism Strategy, click here. | | | | | The Queensland town of Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast has been announced the Overall Winner of the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns Awards 2012. As well as winning the overall Australian title, Caloundra won the Community Action & Partnerships and the ‘Dame Phyllis Frost’ Litter Prevention category awards. According to the Australian Tidy Towns Judge, Dick Olesinski, Caloundra is a dynamic and environmentally aware community with friendly, enthusiastic and dedicated residents that care for their unique environment. “Volunteers play an enormous role in ensuring the town achieves positive social, environmental and economic outcomes. The many anti-litter, historical and environmental groups work in partnership with the Caloundra Tidy Towns group across a range of projects and are well supported by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.” According to Keep Australia Beautiful National Chair, Don Chambers, “the Tidy Towns awards provide the opportunity for communities across Australia to be given recognition for their fantastic commitment in improving and maintaining the local environment. Taking personal responsibility is the DNA of Keep Australia Beautiful. Congratulations to each of the finalists and indeed all entrants in this year’s awards.” Through the Australian Tidy Towns Awards, Keep Australia Beautiful is able to recognise local community and individual efforts that are helping rural and regional communities. | | | | | Regional Arts Australia (RAA) is calling for nominations for the 2012 Awards program to be presented at the RAA National conference Kumuwuki/Big Wave in Goolwa South Australia from 18-21 October, 2012. The RAA Awards program acknowledges the invaluable contribution volunteer leaders make to the cultural life of their local communities. Regionally-based arts and cultural volunteer leaders whose work has inspired and supported arts development are encouraged to enter. One volunteer will be chosen from each jurisdiction to attend the RAA National conference to receive an Award for their outstanding service. Each prize includes accommodation, airfare and conference registration, a total prize value of over $14,000. For further information please contact your local Regional Arts organisation: Country Arts Western Australia: (08) 9200 6200
Artslink, formally Queensland Arts Council: (07) 3226 4000
Tasmanian Regional Arts: (03) 6426 2344
Regional Arts Victoria: (03) 9644 1800
Arts Northern Territory: (08) 8999 8981
Country Arts South Australia: (08) 8444 0400
Regional Arts New South Wales: (02) 9270 2509 For a nomination form, click here. | | |
| | |  The Outdoor Design Source network of Print & Online is Australia's leading multimedia resource (directory & website) for the external works industry. Featuring 600 pages of landscape products and services, Outdoor Design Source is the most comprehensive resource, covering the entire landscape architecture, design and construction industries. Endorsed by more than 30 industry associations, Outdoor Design Source is distributed each year to more than 16,000 subscribers, including landscape architects, councils and property managers. Everything featured in the annual directory is also accessible online at www.outdoordesign.com.au. Outdoor Design Source also produces a weekly ODS E-Newsletter featuring all the latest product releases, industry news and events. Register online for free to grab the latest industry news weekly! All council planners, landscape architects and parks managers, register here (http://www.outdoordesign.com.au/orderods) for your free copy of the 2012 Outdoor Design Source Directory! |
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